The Caring Fox
by Yuyake Kaminari
Summary: It's been 3 years since the war, since Sasuke's death, since Naruto left. Now, Naruto has come back, and will one certain blonde have grown protective and caring of him? Read to find out. R
1. Chapter 1

"You will be mine, Kyuubi!" a man in an orange swirl mask with one eye hole yelled out. He wore a black cloak with red clouds on it. The man suddenly charged at Naruto, dodging the punches and attacks thrown by everybody else.

"Not today, Tobi!" was the last thing the man ever heard as he was obliterated by a Rasenshuriken thrown by Naruto. Naruto collapsed in exhaustion. He had been fighting the biju and Tobi with the aid of Kakashi, Guy, and Killer B. it was all so tiring, especially using as much of the fox's chakra as he did.

"Well well well. Looks like you're going to be an easy target," a man with long, black hair said as he walked towards Naruto, a katana in his left hand. He was suddenly stopped by 11 ninja, presumably of the rookie 12.

"Not today, Sasuke. We will protect our friend with our lives, if it means he will live!" a slightly chubby man yelled as he charged at the enemy.

"Choji! Wait! This is not your fight. Sasuke came here to fight me, so let it be. I promised I'd never lose to this teme, especially not after how far I've gone. Now, get out of here fast, because this may get messy," was all Naruto said as his skin started to peel away, revealing a red humanoid made of pure chakra. It had four tails and resembled that of a fox.

"Naruto! Don't do this!" a girl with blonde hair yelled.

"I have to. It's my duty to protect my village. If it means both me and Sasuke die, then so be it. But I can't allow myself to live if I know it was because of me you died. Besides, I have some unfinished business that was started 3 ½ years ago with this baka, and I intend on finishing it. Besides, I promise, I won't die, not yet at least," the last thing Naruto said before charging at Sasuke, engaging in a very destructive battle that lasted for several hours, until Naruto stabbed his entire paw/hand through Sasuke's chest, destroying the baka's heart. Meanwhile, everybody but the rookie 12 had left for Konoha and their respective villages. They stayed at a good distance, far enough so they wouldn't get hit, yet close enough that they could see the entire battle. At first, Sasuke seemed hell bent on winning, but Naruto soon changed that. Choji, pulled a bag of chips out, while Shikamaru just laid back, dozing off. Ino, watched intently, cheering for Naruto. Lee went on about the youth that the battle held, while Hinata and Neji used their Byakugan to watch the dwindling chakra supplies of both fighters. Tenten had weapons out, ready to charge Sasuke if her friend needed help. Kiba watched intently, his eyes not once leaving the battle. Shino sat there, seemingly emotionless as ever. And Sakura sat away from the group, hoping that Sasuke would win. When Naruto finished Sasuke, they cheered.

"Yes! He finally defe-" Ino was cut off as Naruto collapsed, unmoving. "Naruto!" Ino yelled as she was the only one to run to her friends need, everybody else were still trying to compose themselves after cheering. When Ino arrived, she was relieved to see Naruto alive, staring blankly at the sky.

"I killed him. I killed my 'brother'," Naruto said, seemingly to himself. He hadn't even realized Ino had ran over to him, feeling senseless and emotionless. "Why!" he yelled, startling everybody.

"Naruto! it's ok, everything is going to be ok," Ino said, hugging Naruto.

"No, it's not. I promised everybody here that I'd bring Sasuke back to the village, and here I end up killing him. It's all my fault, I gave you all fa-" Naruto was cut off by Ino.

"No. don't you even say it's you fault, or that you gave us false hope. I knew that once Sasuke had left the village, nobody was going to be able to bring him back. Not alive, at least," Ino said, all the while holding Naruto.

"You baka! You killed him!" Sakura yelled, instantly receiving glares from the group. "You were supposed to br-" the banshee was cut off as Ino appeared in front of her, a kunai held to her throat. She was releasing so much Killer Intent, that Sakura started feeling woosy.

"You shut up. After all this, you're still rooting for Sasuke? Even after he tried killing you? After he threatened to kill everybody here and destroy the village, you're still rooting for him? Get your billboard brow head out of your ass and open your eyes! If not for Naruto, you'd be dead by now!" Ino was now screaming, tears flooding her eyes from the anger.

"He killed Sasuke-kun!" were Sakura's last words as Ino plunged her Kunai deep into her best friend's throat.

_**'Thank you Ino, she was a bitch anyways,' **_**thought the narrator while the entire group and Naruto sweat dropped for some odd reason**.

"Ino, are you alright?" Naruto asked, not stunned by his former crush's lifeless body on the ground in front of Ino.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Naruto, I'm sorry, about everything. I hope you can forgive me," was all Ino could say before she was enveloped in a hug by Naruto.

"It's ok, Ino. I need you to do something, though. I need you to let the hokage know about Sasuke's defeat, and that I'm going out of the village for a while, just to clear my head," Naruto said, not once releasing Ino from the hug.

"I will. It's the least I can do, the least anyone of us can do for you," was all Ino could say before Naruto disappeared.

"Tsunade is going to be pissed," was all the lazy Nara could say as everyone broke out in laughter at the comment.

"Let's get going, we can't let Tsunade wait forever," Choji said as his stomach growled and everybody broke out laughing again. The group headed back to the village, reminiscing funny moments in their lives.

_3 years later, Ichiraku's._

"Any word on when Naruto's coming back?" an old man said while he was cooking ramen.

"Nothing yet. I hope he returns soon, though," Ino said, staring up at the sky. She hadn't even noticed the figure that came up to the stand and sat down. The man was wearing a black cloak with red and blue flames at the bottom. He had a headband on that was covered up by a blank white mask that only had eye holes.

"2 hero specials, please," said the masked man. Ino turned to see who it was. _'Hmm, that voice sounds familiar. Who is he?' _Ino questioned herself, trying to place the person the voice belonged to.

"Well, nobody's ordered that since the Invasion of some guy named Pain. And that was when the hero of the Nations was last in this village," Teuchi said, smiling at the mention of the long forgotten menu item.

"What, you don't think I'd stay away from your ramen too long, did ya?" Naruto asked, nearly giving the old man a heart attack.

"N-Naruto, is that you?" Teuchi questioned, receiving his answer when the man removed his mask to reveal none other than Naruto.

"You got that right!" Naruto said, giving one of his famous foxy-grins. This made Ino fall out of her chair. "Miss, are you al- oh, hey Ino. Long time no see," Naruto said, causing Ino to face fault.

"That's all you have to say, after being gone for three years? We all thought you might be dead!" Ino said, whacking Naruto on the head and calling him a baka.

"Hey! What was that for!" Naruto said, causing people walking past to look in to see the hero of the Elemental nations. "Damn! I'll take those to go please!" Naruto yelled as he grabbed the ramen and disappeared from the crowd that was starting to form.

_With Naruto_

'_Damn! I just wanted some ramen before I left again! I never thought I'd see the day when Ino eat-' _Naruto was cut from his thoughts by Ino whacking him on the head again.

"Don't just run off you baka! Tsunade wants to see you, plus I owe you dinner for ruining your lunch," Ino said as Naruto just chuckled at the last part.

"Don't get too comfortable with me being back in Konoha. I just stopped in quick to pick up some ramen and head back out to train to become stronger," Naruto said, earning him another whack on the head courtesy of Ino.

"The thing is, she wants to inform you that you're next in line for the title of hokage. You were supposed to receive it after the war, but you ran off before she could tell you," Ino said, shocking Naruto.

"I'm such a baka. The reason I left 3 years ago was because I wanted to train for a better chance at being hokage!" Naruto said, face palming himself.

"Hey, that just means you're going to become a better hokage now," Ino said.

"That's just the thing though, on that absence, I learned I already fulfilled my real dream. I wanted to be recognized back then, and hokage was the only way I could think of. Now that I'm known as the hero of not just one nation, but all five, I hate being recognized. I don't want to be hokage anymore. I just want to become strong enough so I can protect you and all my other precious people. That's one of my 2 new dreams," Naruto said, revealing such a secret to Ino.

"Wait, what's your other dream?" Ino asked, causing a blush to come across his face.

"Well, my second dream is to have a family of my own," Naruto said, causing himself to blush even more.

"Ok. Listen, I'm getting the rest of the rookies together tonight, since you're back in town. They've been dying to see you lately. Plus, in a few days time is the Hero of The Nations festival, marking the day you helped to unite the five great nations," Ino said, eliciting a smile from her friend.

"Sure, where we meeting and what time?" Naruto said, giving Ino a smile that made her insides melt.

"I'll tell you after you and I catch up, ok?" Ino said, causing Naruto to sadden a little. "You know, we are catching up over ramen?" Ino said, causing Naruto to jump up in joy. _'Wow, this is weird. I feel just so warm when I'm around him,' _Ino thought, giving a huge smile while grabbing Naruto and dragged him towards Ichiraku's.


	2. Author's Note

**AN: So, I won't be updating for a while, since I started reading Bleach, and I've been working on a bleach fanfic, so sorry to all those people who liked my stories. Plus, I kind of need some time to come up with some new ideas for the story.**


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